Blogging 101: A Beginner’s Guide to Monetization

You’ve heard the stories, right? That Instagrammer who retired at 19 to run her blog full time? That 32-year-old marketing exec who did the same?

But like…don’t those people have bills to pay?

Well, sure they do. Those people you see who are lucky enough to stay home and spend their time writing fun content for their blog audiences are actually working hard to monetize their blog and reap significant profit from it!

While only a small 4% of the blogosphere pulls in over $10,000 each month from blog monetization, a whopping 17% manages to draw between $100 and $499 each month!

If you think making money by maintaining a blog with fun and accessible content sounds like a dream but aren’t sure how to do it, you’re in the right place!

Keep reading for five of our best tips on how to monetize your blog!

1. Pick a Good Niche

One of the first things you’ll need to recognize when entering the world of blogging is that, if you’re hoping to make any money from your new venture, you have to pick the right niche.

You can write about your grandmother’s day-to-day life or the bugs you see each day, but is there an audience that wants to read about those things? If you’re hoping to make money by blogging about things that may not have a big market, you may need to think again.

Do your research on any potential subjects. Look into your own Google interests as well as any available trend analytics. If these bits of research show positive interest in your topics, you may have found a good niche.

Be sure to look into popular blogs that fall under your same niche. It’s not a good move to enter a market that’s already got several big bloggers dominating their niche.

Beyond all else when it comes to blogging for monetization, choose your niche wisely.

2. Plan for It

It’s not enough to have a blog with a great premise. You’ve also got to work to ensure your blog is jam-packed with awesome content every time you post. One of the only surefire ways to manage this is to take the time to create a purposeful content schedule.

If you plan to create two great blog posts focused on interviews, you may find that you’ve earned the space for a promotional post. However, if you find that you’ve failed to plan out the coming weeks’ blog post, you may be at a loss for content and find yourself hurrying to post anything. If it isn’t worth your readers’ time, don’t post it.

Your readers are smart people. The difference between thoughtful, intentional blogging is noticeable, even if you don’t think it will be.

If you hope to make money from your awesome blog posts…you have to plan for awesome blog posts!

3. Post Awesome Content

Bet you saw this one coming, huh?

If you’re ever going to make any money at all from your blogging efforts, it’s going to start with your ability to draw an audience to your page. The possibility of drawing said audiences with bad or underwhelming content is not good.

Every bit of content you write for your blog should hook your reader. It should address actual issues and interesting subjects. It should keep your reader interested all the way through and after the fact!

An often-overlooked element of Internet content is its visual appeal. Awesome content isn’t only great sentences or a cool subject; it’s also formatted to compel readers. Your content should include relevant images and videos. Break your content up using headings, short paragraphs, and logical formatting.

Your content should be awesome all the way around.

There’s no such thing as too much great content. When your blog gets successful, look to companies like alldayPA to help you manage your successes!

4. Earn Your Community

Unfortunately, you can’t open a blog and expect endless waves of readers to flock to it straight away. If you’re hoping to achieve blog monetization, you’ll need to work for your community first!

Many people establish a base following through social media and email marketing. Social media is a great way to snag the attention of potential followers. Email marketing is a great way to keep your content relevant in readers’ minds!

You can also promote your blog through other avenues, like SEO optimization, sponsored posts, and promotional plugins.

If you’re looking for significant levels of monetization from your blog, you should prepare to work hard for your audience. Promotion is important for gaining an active following. The key to monetization is almost always capturing an active audience.

5. Support Blog Ads

This is, of course, a big one.

Aside from sponsored posts, allowing companies to advertise on your blog is the best way to monetize. Through this sort of agreement, you’ll earn a small amount of money each time a visitor to your blog views an ad on your page. You’ll get a little more money each time they click an ad found on your page.

You can allow several different types of ads, although two major ones are “banner ads” (sometimes called “display ads”) and native ads.

You can install banner ads on your blog in a matter of minutes. Depending on the amount of traffic your site gets, you’ll start racking up the money. They usually have a minor impact on the layout of your blog and are usually found in the margins of pages.

Native ads, similarly, only take a few minutes to install, and your earnings are relative to your site’s traffic. However, native ads are usually more distracting than standard banner ads. They tend to mimic your site’s content, blending in with layouts and distracting readers.

Do your research when it comes to blog ads. Decide which of the many varieties is best for you and your monetization goals!

Want More on Blog Monetization?

Of course you do!

Blog monetization is an awesome way to reap the benefits of writing content you’re already excited to write.

For more on great information on blog monetization, check out our page!